George Groves - James Degale

Well done St George! Most experts and fans all seemed to be in agreement that Degale would simply be too sublime for the Commonwealth champion. How wrong were we! I expected Groves to work the body, get inside and pressure Degale but the opposite was the case. Groves used the ring well, had (mostly) better footwork and kept his opponent off the boil by superb lateral movement.

Equal credit has to go to Adam Booth, who is fastly ensuring his reputation as one of the best boxing brains in the world. He took a heart on sleeve fighter and managed to grow his potential to include skills we would have never thought we would see from Groves. Well done Adam.

Degale has a long road back from here, of course he is going to recover and is still a massive talent and draw but the manner of his defeat will change his boxing outlook. According to Twitter and boxing blogs even the most die hard 'Chunky' fan only had him nicking it. Hardly the 4-round blow out we were promised! Degale appeared to not have a plan B and totally forgot about working off his jab. A large part of this must fall on Jim McDonnell – why would a trainer of this calibre send his charge out without a plan? As we know Jim McDonnell is a quality trainer it must have been down to arrogance – thinking Degale would just walk through Groves?

If I was incharge of Degale I would move him from the UK to start again, like Khan did. In the UK 'Chunky' is a celebrity, he may have been a victim of believing his own hype. A move would change this, he could start again as a novice with little distraction. If he can get back in the ring relatively quickly and with good sparring inbetween he will challenge for honours again soon, hopefully without all the nasty build up that in my opinion soured his reputation. I predict that we will see a rematch but I hope it is not for a few years, hopefully when both are international names.

Well done both, it was a great fight and well worth the £15.

James Bond - Random Blog topic!

Thanks to ITV I have managed to catch a couple of Bond films within the last month and I am pleased to say they were a great couple of hours of pure escapism. This raised the age old question in my head; 'Who is the best Bond?' Now there are few issues as divisive in the world. Indeed the Connery Vs Moore debate is up there with Ali-Frasier, North-South and Leg-Breast (Chicken you dirty sod) in terms of fanboyism.

In my humble opinion, ALL the bonds offer something unique that may be a product of their times. Connery, the trend setter was (and still is) the epitome of cool. No Bond since has carried off the calm, yet ruthless demeanour in such a powerful way. The Aston Martin DB5 seemed to personify the 'cool' that was the swinging sixties (or so im told, I wasnt there!). Roger Moore added a sense of campness and tongue in cheek wit that was a world away from Connery. However it seemed to work? Whilst this Bond wasnt the calm, collected killer that the previous one was, he was more defined by the era of the 70s. It was almost as if the studios or directors couldnt decide what to make of the franchise? Live and Let Die was only a caucasian lead from being a 'blaxplotation' film like Shaft. Moonraker was trying desperately to cash in on the Star Wars fever by putting Bond in space! Characters like JW Pepper didnt seem to fit the Bond set. HOWEVER for all this, they all seemed to work.

Moving on to Dalton, he seemed to recapture some of the ruthlessness of Connery. However this was at the expense of the humour that Moore brought. I really enjoyed both of the films but again they were a product of what was popular at the time. With heroes like Arnie and Stallone to compete with Bond became a clone of the action film. The Living Daylights and License to Kill had some tremendous action sequences that previous Bonds hadnt primarily focused on. Was this because Dalton was more two dimensional that Moore and Connery or was it because that is just the way the films were made? Maybe a little of both? Either/or, both are really good films and I think it was a loss to the franchise that Dalton didnt make more!

Considering the format of this musing appears to be chronological I must follow with Pierce Brosnan. This Bond is the one that I held out the greatest hope for, yet was the most disappointed with. This is not to say that I didnt enjoy his films, I really did (mostly) – I just thought that there was so much more potential with Brosnan to reboot the franchise. Whether or not this is the fault of him or the studios isnt the point of this article. Brosnan appeared to merge all of the aforementioned traits seamlessly. He was funny, ruthless, cool and a really good actor! Goldeneye was such a good film, it hinted at a new direction in the series with a well thought out plot, a bit of backstory and some action sequences Roland Emmerich would be proud of. Subsequent films left a lot to be desired. Tomorrow Never Dies took an interesting plot idea and took it too far, World is Not Enough took an interesting plot idea and didnt do enough with it and Die Another Day needs to be consigned to the dustbin of history alongside Dansani and the N-Gage.

Finally I will come to the end of my Bondathon by mentioning Daniel Craig. He started with a stumble with his unveiling on the Thames surrounded by health and safety equipment in case he fell off the boat – I imagine Fleming spinning in his grave! However he really turned it around! Both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace are superb, gritty, dark, engaging and full of cool stuff. Also seems to fit with the theory that Bond films reflect the time as Craig's Bond starts at the beginning, almost like a Prequel! It would appear that Star Wars, Star Trek, Batman and X-Men are all jumping on this bandwagon too. Maybe this is a deeper psychological issue that modern society has with looking at where it came from? Or maybe its another way to squeeze money out of cinema goers! Whichever way it is – its cool in my opinion, especially with Bond!

Therefore in summary, I love all the Bonds. I think they all have attributes I like, they all have traits I dont but overall they all entertain me! I know I didnt mention Lazenby (sorry) but I will round off with the best Bond tribute ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czWLEbNwjCI

Pete

David Haye vs Wladimir Klitschko

On July 2^nd we are looking at the best heavyweight fight since Lewis-Tyson. In fact, bar Pacquiao-Mayweather it is the hottest fight on the planet! Boxing is in dire need of a saviour event, we keep getting promised them but they always seem to disappoint. The last 'pick-em' I can think of would probably have been De La Hoya-Mayweather and that was years ago. Furthermore it consisted of 2 playboys fighting as opposed to fighters! This, in my humble opinion is why UFC is growing in popularity as boxers are too concerned with protecting their '0' or playing the celebrity lifestyle (DWTS anyone?)

Now this heavyweight title unification hopefully will be different. Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye are both heavy handed, vunerable to counters and always in supreme condition. On paper this breeds an exciting contest. I am hoping that Wladimir Klitschko can play with Haye for 6-7 rounds then land his Sunday punch right on the button. Obviously as a proud Brit this seems like a betrayal but I love the sport more than my boxing patriotism. Should Haye win it will not unify the sport as he has said he will be retiring in October. This is bad as AGAIN we will be in a situation where we will have a string of B level fighters tussling for several years until a decent young one comes thru (Perez?). However the main reason I think it will be a bad thing is because Haye is not the poster boy Boxing needs. His accomplishments, they are impressive, he travelled to Paris to knock out Mormeck, he unified against Maccarenelli when a lot of people (myself included) thought he could lose and he won on points in Germany against Valuev. However its his persona I take issue with, he wore the infamous decapitaion Tshirts to annoy the brothers K, he equated his predicted annihilation of Audley Harrison with a gang rape and to top it all off he has managed to moan so much about his pay that he is getting 50% of the split to fight Klitschko. Dont get me wrong, the last one shows shrewd negiotating skills but it isnt half cheeky! WK has dominated the division for years and will be a hall of famer. What makes Haye think he deserves an equal share? Is it his knock out of Harrison? Is it his beating up of a shot Ruiz? No, its his mouth!

The Heavyweight Champion of the World should be a role model. Children should look up to them as a paragon of athleticism and entertainment. Haye is neither of these. He is a badly behaved, has talked himself into a reputation he doesnt deserve and wont do anything to promote the sport he claims to love after October. If Klitschko can keep his cool, use his jab and throw the right early on to throw Haye out of rhythm I think we will see an end to the Hayemaker express. However it is worth noting that I am officially the worst predictor in the world as the last big fight I got right was the aforementioned Lewis-Tyson. Therefore put it all on Haye KO rd 1.

Pete

Election Round Up.

Well the roller-coaster is over. It was a baptism of fire to say the least and I am pleased to say that not only did we survive we did relatively well! Across the UK the Lib Dems received a battering on all levels. Many people will question as to why but the prevailing opinion is that the national UK scene affected us however c'est la vie. We are in coalition to do what we think is right for the people of the UK, at the moment we are not popular but making tough decisions rarely leads to popularity. The deficit we are dealing with is a more pressing issues than appreciated! We will recover and do better next time, in Alyn and Deeside we are blessed with a hard working party base, superb county councillors and a sense of calm that means we wont panic next time!

I am pleased to say that the majority of the people I have dealt with in the campaign from other parties are now counted as friends. I would especially like to mention Shane Brennan from Plaid, John Bell from the Tories and Steve Tattum from Labour. Whilst we have been political enemies for the last 3 months they have acted with nothing but chivalry, kindness and support for the other campaigns (mine included). Its nice to see that whilst our ideology divides us we are still all committed to improving the lives for people in Wales. Well done to the Labour, Plaid and Tory campaigns and I look forward to locking horns with you again!

The only sour notes from the campaign came on count day. The first from the BNP. It was a shame to see a relatively calm campaign spoiled by an argument with a PC activist. It would appear that manners are not part of the BNP ethos and I was glad to see the returning officer take the situation in hand! The final poor show was the heckling of the BNP candidate from the floor during the declaration speeches. I abhor the BNP and what they stand for however in the (misquoted) words of Voltaire: 'I defend to the death your right to say it!'. I am sure there were people who disagreed with me however they were polite enough to let me verbally 'bang my drum'!

Across North Wales, the Liberal Democrats did (almost) buck the trend of the predicted collapse. When you compare all the constituencies with the last WAG elections vote share the top 4 were all in North Wales! We 'protected' our share of the vote better than EVERYWHERE in Wales and for this we are all eternally grateful to not only the individual local parties but also Rachael who came up from Cardiff to coordinate our campaigns. Special mentions go to Mike, Brian and Bruce who all INCREASED their share of the vote from the last WAG election. In such trying times this is a testament to their abilities and when they do get elected in the future, Wales will be all the better for it.

Wrexham and Alyn & Deeside both finished 3^rd, which again is worth celebrating considering that 29 constituencies finished 4^th or lower. Whilst it may seem oddly self serving to congratulate my own campaign it is worth pointing out that it was literally fought on a shoe string with a limited number of helpers. To get the thousands of leaflets out, be in the paper most weeks, and to move from 4^th to 3^rd is all down to Secret Agent Bex, my parents, Little Wifey and my very own master Yoda, Paul Brighton. I am so grateful to everyone who assisted in whatever way they did. I love you all!

Final big ups go to Michele in Delyn and Rhys in Arfon. Both of these superb candidates were really up against it and considering the aforementioned national situation they shone. Michele considering her limited resources managed to juggle supporting her daughter through her exams, starting a new job and fighting an election campaign. Well done Michele, you are a star! Rhys had a similar situation but also had to contend with fighting a seat far from home whilst being a student. Watch out for Rhys, the official Pete prediction is that he will go far in Liberal politics and we are all the stronger for having him!

We will dust ourselves down and live to fight again, next time we will put into practice the lessons that we learned over the previous campaign. With our new elected AM Aled Roberts heading the fight in North Wales we are certainly on the up. By the next elections, people will have returned to our fold, of this I am certain. We are the only party that balances being socially responsible whilst also being fiscally astute. Well done to all the thousands of Lib Dems across the UK who fought for their constituents and unfortunately didn't win. We will come back stronger and rest assured I will be there again standing shoulder to shoulder with you!

Pete Williams

Flintshire Liberal Democrat Spokesperson

Why people should vote for me

People should vote for me because Wales is facing massive problems that the current government cannot solve. The Labour-Plaid coalition underfunds our school children by £600 per child, per year. This has delivered exam results that have fallen behind the the rest of the UK when our schools were once the envy of Europe. As a Welsh Liberal Democrat I will remedy this by freeing up teachers to teach and investing more money directly into schools.

The Labour-Plaid government allows massive waste in the NHS and protects high salaried management jobs whilst cancer care is left to decay. I will fight to ensure we cut spending money on expensive car hire schemes and invest it in ensuring waiting lists are cut and cancer care is prioritised. I will insist on a review of NHS waste unlike the current AM who has voted against investigating the £1bn of misspent funding. Our NHS is a national treasure and unfortunately under the current government in Cardiff it is being mismanaged.

Finally I will work all year round for residents of all the wards in Alyn and Deeside. From my campaigning I am hearing the same message of neglect and apathy. People are telling me they havent seen their AM or even know his name. This is a travesty and highlights why politicians have a bad name. I will promise to do my utmost to represent Alyn and Deeside in Cardiff and ensure that the people feel that their AM works hard for them and delivers value for money.

TCC Accountability meeting in Shotton

Last nights accountability meeting was a great success. It was really nice to meet the other candidates – except John Bell who didnt show, or send a representative! There was four prepared questions that we had on bigotry, health, living wage and engaging young people. It was very disappointing to watch Carl - who has been doing this for years – fail to answer a single question with a specific policy idea. It saddens me that he will still take votes without having any new plans! The final thing about Carl was that he kept saying how he would listen to the people, which would have been more believable if he hadnt kept getting the Plaid candidate's name wrong – Shane not Sean.

Shane Brennan from Plaid was a lovely chap to speak to and obviously holds politics close to his heart. It was sad though that he failed to link all the failures that we have in Wales with the fact that Plaid have been in power for the last 4 years! Again his answers were vague in places, he failed to really inspire me with his rhetoric, the answers were just moans about what was wrong – again very little (but more than Carl) on specific policy.

We also had suprise questions from the floor, they were on jobs for older people, sustainability and traffic flow problems in Deeside. Its a tough job having to think on your feet but should you be briefed and honest there is nothing to worry about. I struggled with the traffic question, I am not fully briefed on the issue and therefore did not try to fluff my answer – in fact it was 'I dont have a clue, but I will find out'. I hope the audience appreciated the honesty. Both other candidate's had a long drawn out policy answer that was not specific to the question and full of 'spin'. Carl got a small bonus point from me as at the end of a 2 minute essay on Welsh transport issues (with no real point) he did say he didnt know either. I would have appreciated brevity more that an typical politicians answer.

Afterwards the tea and biscuits were excellent and I made a point of speaking to many people. All of them were so friendly and kind, but still challenging on the issues. I feel I did well from the feedback – especially from the lone Tory audience member who had me down as the best candidate, I hope I would have still got his support had John Bell turned up! The only area I wasnt happy with was the Labour supporter, who made a point of telling me that Nick Clegg was going to be taught a lesson with a smirk. I want people to vote on Welsh issues and how we can work together. Politics SHOULD NOT be about point scoring – but im not naïve enough not to expect some backlash from die hard Labour supporters!

Overall though it was a great evening and I was pleased to make some new friends.

Flintshire Chronicle Questions 2

What are your own personal views on the Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society's

plans to create an Islamic culture centre in the county?

I strongly believe in the right of freedom of expression and freedom of worship. It is NOT the place of elected representatives in a democracy to turn away peoples rights based on their religion, race or creed. I support wholly the rights of any person, of any background, to buy property (especially disused property) and make an positive contribution to society with it. The people who are looking at moving their worship down the road from Queensferry are not terrorists, fundamentalists or criminals. They are hardworking Flintshire residents who contribute to the local economy.

Islam has had a bad press, there are elements of it, especially around the world that I abhor, but this is a world away from what we are talking about. This community centre would have been available for use by anyone for their own events, instead of being boarded up. Now it is a smouldering wreck. I will defend the rights of ALL of my constituents as long as they are peaceful, make a contribution and work for the good of the community. All of this applies to the Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society. Do not let caustic rhetoric from nationalist groups sway you, as a community we are better than that.

If elected, what would you do to address the perceived bias of the Assembly

towards the south?

I recognise that there is a bias for the south and to be honest im jealous. It is not the fact that the Assembly as an institution is to blame – it is our poor standard of representatives! Representatives in the south achieve more for their constituents. This should not be slated, it should be copied. We should insist on getting a fairer slice of the cake for Alyn and Deeside. I am sick of reading about how money and services are funnelled down south. Why do our current representatives not remedy the fact that the transport committee for ALL Wales only contains Southern AM's? Why does Flintshire sit bottom of the league for arts and heritage funding when we are home to Theatre Clwyd? We does this new train go from Holyhead to Cardiff – and all over North Wales - but avoids Flintshire?

I will ensure that I represent the people of Alyn & Deeside in Cardiff. I live here, will fight for here and I will do my utmost to make politics local and accessible. Now is the time for change and a new voice because this question about south bias says it all; our current representatives are failing us in Alyn and Deeside.

What do you think of the proposed changes to the NHS, and what effect do you

think they would have on patients if introduced?

For a whole series of treatments, Wales is dropping further and further behind. We have lower survival rates than the European average for cancer and several other medical conditions. Life expectancy can also vary by nearly 20 years, depending on where in Wales you live.

Despite this poor performance, the Labour-Plaid Government has refused to investigate the claim by an NHS Finance Director that £1 billion of the NHS Wales budget is “not being used optimally” – in other words wasted. That huge sum could be spent more effectively to provide urgently needed better treatment.

They have introduced a centralising re-organisation, which gives the Minister unprecedented control over the way the NHS operates. The reorganisation also led to thousands of pounds being wasted on protected salaries for NHS managers for years ahead. We believe that a Government should develop the overall performance framework and that local bodies should implement in a way that suits their local area.

Wales needs a more localised service for the majority of healthcare needs. Heath and social care organisations need to work together more closely to manage patients’ needs as they change, for example as we grow older. And much more needs to be done to reduce illness and accidents in the first place.

TCC Questions from students from St Richards Gwyn in Flint

Accountability meeting questions St. Richard Gwyn

What changes will you put in place if elected, to ensure suitable jobs for those lucky enough to graduate?

3 main areas, training, plan for growth and encouraging regeneration in local communities in Wales.

5000 training grants a year

Its a valid concern, many employeers are concerned about the relative skills shortage in Wales. Its a fact that other countries have skills and productivity that are higher – this stems partially from underfunding in education but thats another conversation! We need to ensure that the high level of youth unemployement in Wales attracts employeers who see the potential in Welsh youth. We will offer grants of up to £2000 to employeers who take on an unemployed person who is aged under 25 and has a training need. The employer will apply for this grant and we will ensure that the grant is for training that will benefit the Welsh economy. For example we wouldnt allow funding of courses in areas that are over subscribed or are not relevant to the area (gold mining!). This will ensure that companies are encouraged to help people get a foot hold on a career AND it helps them!

As liberal democrats we are not going to have a top down approach to which courses we are going to fund. Quite frankly we are not all experts in the next big business field and it would be arrogant to think so, therefore we will be open minded to what companies want to use the grant for. This training can be in whatever form the companies want – assuming it passes our earlier criteria – if they want it to be academic, masters based, PHD etc that is fine if it brings prosperity, if they want it to be an accredited courses from a further education college again that is fine as well.

If there is an over demand for this scheme (which we expect as it is a good scheme for individuals, companies AND Wales) we will focus it on small businesses as they are often times the groups that need the leg up – larger companies can swallow the cost themselves. This grant is good for youth unemployment and it will ensure that people have a chance at becoming whatever they want to be in a vibrant Welsh economy.

Welsh Stock Exchange/Jobs and Growth Innovation Programme

We will ensure that businesses in Wales have the access to capital that unfortunately isnt always there from banks. The Welsh Stock Exchange will ensure that small businesses become growing businesses which ultimately become HIRING businesses. This is a long term plan and will ensure that we are helping people start their careers for years to come.

We will also establish a Jobs and Growth Innovation Fund (worth £20m a year) that will have specific remit to fund new and modern tech and invest in new programmes that will make sure that modern business have infrastructure and facilites to create jobs in Wales. This money can be used to fund research for green industries (which make no doubt IS the next multi billion £ sector), aerospace firms like Airbus in Broughton or to help build infrastructure and skills in new and growing areas. Finally the Welsh Lib Dems will encourage this money to be used for smaller businesses to get business mentoring to help them grow and become the next companies to provide us with Dragons on Dragons Den or to allow universities to develop intellectual property which means that Wales can increase the number of patents we have based here – again bringing money into Wales which will ensure that jobs are available for people in Flintshire for years to come

Council Regeneration

Finally there will also be chances for Local Authorities to attract jobs to the local area. We believe that by giving councils new powers to regenerate areas through what they receive in business rates. This model is already being used in Scotland and is being looked at by England – We have been left behind with this and its a travesty. If we can encourage local authorities to fund business regeneration it will encourage jobs and will ensure that younger people neednt fear a live being unable to contribute.

Therefore in summary, we will invest in training our new work force to be the best it can be, we will provide the infrastructure for growth and we will encourage investment and regeneration to ensure jobs are there for people!

What initiatives will you put in place, if elected, to ensure affordable housing for young people?

Being a relatively new home owner I understand the position first time buyers are in. Asking for huge deposits whilst facing wage freezes and uncertain financial futures is tough. We want to change that. The price of houses is largely down to a supply and demand issue. There are simply not enough houses being built and we would like to increase the amount of construction and the renovation of empty properties to fulfil the need. Estimates say we will need over 250,000 new homes by 2026.

I will support the Welsh Liberal Democrat plan to bring empty properties back into use with the Wales-wide Empty Homes Programme. This will

• Give grants to owners of long term properties to renovate their property and bring it back into use. In exchange the owner will have to use the property as social housing for 10 years.
• Allow councils to charge additional council tax on empty properties. This compensates the community for the wasted house and provides an incentive for the owner to bring it back into use
• We will also make it easier for councils to return empty properties to use by streamlining the Empty Dwelling Management Orders. Basically making it easier to get houses back on the market which means supply will increase whilst demand decreases

We will help authorities and housing associations to borrow cash and to use grants to turn properties into homes to rent. This influx of housing will decrease demand for homes and will ensure prices come down. Welsh Lib Dems will also support first time buyers in Wales by offering 'shared equity schemes'. This will enable people to partly own their homes making home ownership cheaper and a more realistic possibility.

Our plan for a Community Bill of rights also has bearing on this issue – we want to hand more power over to communities with regards to planning law. This will mean being able to purchase a second home in another community will be more difficult. Tightening up this planning area will mean that local communities will be able to utilise the local housing for people in the area, this will increase the supply, lower the demand and mean that more people are able to get a foot on the ladder in Flintshire.

Welsh Liberal Democrats will bring more private money into the sector through the Welsh Housing Investment Trust.

WHIT would lever an additional £100 million of capital market investment to make the Social Housing Grant go further.

This new body would invest directly in property including property leased to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs).

It would enable us to overcome many of the barriers facing social housing in Wales by ensuring that funding was there to build, maintain and expand affordable housing in Wales.

Finally, this is linked to the wider economic question. We don't want people in Flintshire crippling themselves financially to afford mortgages. When we kickstart the economy we will ensure people have the security to make their payments, raise their living standards and be able to contribute to the wider economy by getting more skilled, better paid jobs!

So to summarise, there is a problem, not enough houses are available, we need to make them available by ensuring investment in areas in need of regeneration, filling empty properties, finding private sector money for the area of social housing and offering shared equity schemes for new owners.

What would you do to counter claims that we have a South Wales Assembly Government?

I wouldnt, however I would attempt to clarify where the blame for this lies. The buck stops with out elected representatives. Basically I think we need harder working AM's as quite frankly at the moment they are ineffective. Let me give you some facts about our level of representation in North Wales. This is not a witch hunt against any specific AM's. They can defend their own voting records on issues but its worth knowing how much of the cake we get in North Wales:

The WAG instigated an economic recovery program aimed at ALL of Wales. It was designed to help us get out of the economic rut we face. This Single Investment Fund and Economic Renewal Programme invested £48 million in Wales which sounds excellent but when we dig down. It equates to just over £10 per person in North Wales, compared to £24 to everyone in South Wales! If we dig deeper Wrexham, a massive industrial base not far from here got 0.68p, compared to Newport in the south (song) which got £70!!!

Not too long ago (2007) we had a furore when the Labour Plaid Government in Cardiff wanted to make all patients in Wales attend southern hospitals for Brain surgery – fairly complicated stuff! It was more important to send them to a Welsh hospital rather than 30 miles down the road to Liverpool! Thankfully there was a climb down from Labour who relented rather than send desperately sick people on a 400 mile round trip. Why wasnt a North Walian approach considered first?

In North Wales we are underfunded again with regard to arts and culture. The bottom 5 funded councils are all in the North and Flintshire is dead last! Flintshire is the home of Theatre Clwyd, one of the premier culture centres in the UK, never mind Wales and it comparitably less funding that South Wales? Is it the WAGs fault? It is the standard of representation, I would go for the latter!

Considering there is issues with north/south we would hope that transport links where a major concern of the WAG and specifically North Wales AM's however again we are not represented – this just underlines the question that raises as to whether we do have a Southern Assembly? There is a new high speed train that goes from Holyhead to Cardiff stopping in all North Wales constituencies – apart from the most populous (FLINTSHIRE!) Why do our AM's not do something about this? Arriva who run it say its a WAG issue and we have AM right here in Flintshire who are not standing up for us when vital services like this are being proposed? Indeed something else to consider is that in Wales there is a public transport planning committee which helps build up Welsh transport links – but ALL of the representatives are from south Wales!

What are our representatives doing!!!! Why is Flintshire and the north being overlooked?? Its not the Assemblies fault, its an institution. Its not the fault of South Wales AM's, quite frankly they are doing a great job and I would be proud to know my AM was working so hard for my constituency! We need to ask searching questions of our own representatives. Why does South Wales get so much? Is the fact that you consider yourselves to be safe seats mean u dont have to work hard for your constituencies or is it that they are out of their depths?

Policy Questions

Havent posted a blog in a while, have been so, so busy with work.  I have a new job and juggling this with the campaign has been hard - worthwhile - but hard!  Leafleting is going well and i am talking to dozens of voters every day.  Issues that are constantly cropping up included the AV referendum, both for and against, education and what Cardiff does for us.  Its nice to see that people are getting more and more engaged in the political process, hopefully im getting the chance to make people think a little differently!

The local paper, The Flintshire Chronicle, is running a very commendable set of articles in bringing politics home to the people of Flintshire.  They have asked the A&D and Delyn candidates from all parties a set of questions that will clarify party positions and give the readers the chance to hear from candidates.  This will continue in the run up to May 5th and this Thursday will be the first edition to print the answers!  Please see below and let me know what you think (there is a word limit of 200 if u think its brief:

If elected, what would you do to encourage more businesses to establish themselves in Flintshire, creating jobs and boosting the regional economy?

As a Welsh Liberal Democrat, I believe that getting Wales moving again economically should be one of the main aims of the Assembly Government. Under Labour, Wales has not fulfilled its potential. We are the least competitive nation in the UK, we have falling levels of business start ups and few internationally competitive businesses. We will change this by creating a Welsh stock exchange to allow capital to flow into fledgling Welsh businesses that cannot access it elsewhere. We must ensure that small businesses in Wales are encouraged to settle here by allowing the local councils to redevelop areas through business rates. This will drive regeneration of areas as well as creating jobs in them.

I also think it should be an aim of the next Assembly Government to reduce the bureaucratic red tape on small businesses so that they spend more time creating jobs for the people of Alyn & Deeside rather than jumping through hoops! Finally, I will campaign for setting up a Jobs and Growth Innovation Programme. This will help modernise the Welsh economy by establishing business mentoring schemes and will upgrade old manufacturing sites for new businesses in order to create jobs for Alyn & Deeside.

What will your party do to help young people in Flintshire get a foot on the housing ladder?

Being a relatively new home owner I understand the position first time buyers are in. Asking for huge deposits whilst facing wage freezes and uncertain financial futures is tough. We want to change that. The price of houses is largely down to a supply and demand issue. There are simply not enough houses being built and we would like to increase the amount of construction and the renovation of empty properties to fulfil the need. Estimates say we will need over 250,000 new homes by 2026. We will help authorities and housing associations to borrow cash and to use grants to turn properties into homes to rent. This influx of housing will decrease demand for homes and will ensure prices come down. Welsh Lib Dems will also support first time buyers in Wales by offering 'shared equity schemes'. This will enable people to partly own their homes making home ownership cheaper and a more realistic possibility.

Finally, this is linked to the wider economic question. We don't want people in Flintshire crippling themselves financially to afford mortgages. When we kickstart the economy we will ensure people have the security to make their payments, raise their living standards and be able to contribute to the wider economy by getting more skilled, better paid jobs!

What can be done to improve the standard of education in Flintshire and
Wales?

I feel that there are four things that we must do to improve the standard of education in Flintshire and Wales. Firstly, we need to ensure that teachers are given the correct training to ensure that they can deliver a first class service to our children. Secondly, we should reward the excellent teachers that we do have by extending pay flexibility so local education authorities can encourage higher standards from them. Thirdly, we need to reduce the curriculum in Wales. The Labour/Plaid coalition has made it mandatory for 6^th forms and colleges to offer at least 30 different subject courses. This has meant that local councils are forced to try and reorganise educational priorities which is not only expensive but means that schools may well focus on the quantities of courses over the quality! Finally, we need to close the massive funding gap that Labour have allowed on their watch. Welsh Liberal Democrats will introduce a Welsh pupil premium to target the most disadvantaged of our students with £2500 of extra funding - thats £3m extra in our area - to ensure that they are never left behind and will have the same opportunities as their cousins across the border in England.

Wales CAN do better!

With elections in Wales, Scotland and England looming, more than ever people are looking for answers to the severe questions that face our nation. These questions mainly revolve around the shocking state of the economy, and how our world has been turned upside down. It is far too easy to play party politics and heap people with blame for the mess. What we need to do as politicians and voters is question what we do now.

All of the politicians and parties want the same thing: a prosperous economy based on green credentials; a well-funded health service and a vibrant school system. How we get there is the difference! The Liberal Democrats are making massive changes in Westminster. We are a party that has 8% of MPs in the Commons but this has translated to 65% of our party's manifesto in the Coalition agreement! The shocking waste that is the Trident renewal has been postponed in this parliament; pensioners will have their retirement secure with the triple lock guarantee, and the most poor amongst us are being lifted out of income tax all together. We can and must choose our representatives based on what they can get done!

Liberal Democrat principles are at the heart of the national fightback. We need to ensure that in Wales we have similar values based on fairness in the Senedd. Only the Liberal Democrats will ensure that people who need social care are given control over how it will work for them. Only the Liberal Democrats will scrap the £8 million WASTE that is the airlink between Cardiff and Anglesey and only the Liberal Democrats will kick start the Welsh economy by establishing a Welsh stock exchange for the infusion of capital our businesses desperately need!

I hope that in May people vote for change in Wales.  As a nation we are NOT better off than we were 4 years ago.  In many ways we have stumbled and this has hindered our children and burdened our most vunerable citizens. In May lets make sure we change this!

Pete Williams

Liberal Democrat Candidate for the Welsh Assembly in Alyn & Deeside

National AV Referendum

A lot of people have approached me with regards to the AV referendum in May and what it means to them. I cannot overemphasise how important this referendum is to us all and how we can finally change a broken electoral system in the UK. The First Past the Post (FPTP) set up encourages a system of 'jobs for life' by allowing far too many MPs the luxury of a safe seat, secure in the knowledge that a minority of total votes will keep them in power. Under AV this will change – we will be able to demand that MPs sit up and work for their communities because if they don't, it will be far easier to replace them!

AV means that we get more choice. No longer would we have to pin our colours to one specific mast. Our politicians will have to work for all of us rather than 'special interest' groups. This can only be a good thing because it means that our local representative can only govern if the majority of people from a community support them! Under the present system we can end up with people making decisions for us whom most of us don't want.

It's important to note that AV is a simple, tried and tested system. It only requires that voters are able to count and it is used by many countries successfully. FPTP has left the United Kingdom with hung parliaments many times over the last century. AV doesn't fix this but it also doesn't make it any more likely. Australia, which uses AV, has returned its first hung parliament in 38 elections. Canada, which like the UK uses FPTP, has permanent hung parliaments. This shows that the 'No' campaign's charge of creating backroom politics is baseless. If we vote 'Yes' in this election, we will have more control over who we want to be in charge.

I hope that as a nation we can get behind the proposed changes. As a country we are moving away from the traditional two-party system as the last general election showed. The Liberal Democrats achieved 23% of the vote, the Greens achieved their first ever seat in Brighton and over 3 million people voted away from the traditional parties. We cannot disenfranchise this many people by supporting a system that keeps new voices silenced. AV is not proportional representation (which I think we do need), but it is a step in the right direction to making politics local, representative and accessible.

Pete Williams

Liberal Democrat Welsh Assembly Candidate for Alyn & Deeside

Why I got into politics

Recently I was asked why I got involved in politics. I am not a career politician, politics is not what defines me or pays my mortgage but it does affect me. I want to get involved because I cannot just accept the status quo. The issues that we face regarding the future of our economy are going to transcend the current generation. They will not be fixed after the end of the next parliament, nor will they go away if we ignore them. I want to be a part of the solution and I believe that how we prepare our children is the answer.

The under funding in Welsh education is an absolute travesty and it shocks me to my core that it isn’t an issue that is filling the papers. Under the Labour-Plaid coalition, the average Welsh student has £604 less invested in their education than their cousins across the border. Pupils in England are getting more money spent on them whilst Welsh teachers have more students to teach with less resources! The Welsh Conservative plans are even worse: cuts that have been proposed equate to nearly £130 million of the local education budget. This is a further £277 cut for each of our students! Our children in Wales are our future - they are going to grow the new economy and ensure that Wales is strong and stable for years to come. It is our sacred trust to ensure that they are well prepared for an increasing competitive and international jobs market. The Welsh Liberal Democrats want to introduce a Welsh pupil premium to follow our children from nursery to leaving school. This will target the most disadvantaged children to ensure that they have the right skills and are not left behind. I will proudly support the Welsh pupil premium and I hope you do too.

This is when I realised that my family are why I am involved in trying to change our society. I will not stand still whilst we seemingly accept second best for our future. Our children deserve the best start in life - this is the moral thing to do and more importantly it is the right thing to do. If we prepare our children for the future, they will create wealth, pay taxes and improve on the world that we leave them. This surely should be the mantra that all politicians follow and I am proud to say I will do my best to ensure people ask the challenging questions of the powers that be!

English Defence League

It was with a heavy heart that I read about the EDL protests in Shotton last week. The EDL are a single issue party who do not deserve the ink that is wasted on them. The proposed cultural centre in Shotton is potentially a good thing for the local community. It is NOT going to be used solely for Muslims, it will be open to people of all religions and for this the Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society should be given credit. I hope and pray that the people of Shotton are not taken in by the inflammortory rhetoric of the EDL, chants such as 'burn a poppy, burn a mosque' which were used and signs saying 'Stop the paedophile invasion of England' are not helpful and racist in their assumptions. There is nothing wrong with peaceful protest, in fact I welcome it if people feel aggrieved but shameful chants and bigotted banners have no place in civilised society.

If such behaviour wasnt so disgusting I would be amused by the fact that the irony is lost on the ENGLISH Defence League as they were actually in Wales.

Pete Williams

Lib Dem Welsh Assembly Candidate for Alyn & Deeside

Hello!

Well the last 2 months have been a roller coaster ride, since putting my name forward for consideration as a candidate I have been frantically reading emails, attending meetings and planning how the campaign will run.  Its now official, I was so proud to be nominated by the Flintshire Liberal Democrats last night and I hope I don't let people down.

The job of representing people at any level of government is a huge responsibility.  We are striving to be elected so we can serve the people and in that capacity we must hold ourselves to a higher standard.  I believe that people are disillusioned with politics, many people don't know who their representative is at any level or what these people do!  The politicians who are well know tend to be national figures who are far removed from what goes in Wales, never mind what goes on in Alyn and Deeside.  The other type of politician can be considered more infamous that ‘famous’, the recent by-election in Oldham highlights this - the fact that a sitting MP can use untruths to solidify his power base, and that members of all parties were implicated in the expenses scandal is a stark warning about how politics get its reputation.  I aim to change this, I want people to know me and to challenge me on local and Welsh issues.  If I cannot hear your concerns then we cannot move forward together, my email account is awaiting questions and when I knock on your door I want to speak to people!

I believe that the honour of nomination and hopefully representation puts a burden on myself to do what i think is right, however its a burden I welcome and embrace.  I am in this for Alyn and Deeside, and the pledge I make to the constituents is that all of my campaign will be honest and true.  Its a privilege to stand and I hope I get to meet all of you and to address your concerns.

Thanks

Pete Williams
Welsh Liberal Democrat Prospective Assembly Candidate for Alyn & Deeside

Wel, mae'r ddau fis diwethaf wedi bod yn daith gynhyrfus ar y naw!  Ers cynnig fy hun fel ymgeisydd  ar eich rhan, rwyf wedi bod yn frysur  ateb e- byst, mynychu cyfarfodydd, a cheisio cynllunio natur fy ymgyrch. Bellach, mae'n swyddogol - rwyf yn hynod falch fy mod neithiwr wedi fy enwebu  fel cynrychiolydd y Democratiaid Rhyddrydol ar gyfer Sir y Fflint, ac hyderaf gallaf wneud fy ngorau ar eich rhan.

 

Mae cynrychioli'r cyhoedd  ar unrhyw lefel o fewn y llywodraeth yn anferth o gyfrifoldeb. Rydym yn ymgyrchu ac ymdrechu i wasanaethu'r cyhoedd, felly rhaid wastad anelu yn uchel. Credaf bod llawer o fobl wedi siomi â byd llywodraeth. Nid llawer s'yn adnabod eu cynrychiolwyr (ar unthyw lefel), heb son am ddeall am y gwaith a wnant drostynt! Tuedda'r gwleidyddion adnabyddus fod yn wynebau cyfarwydd cenedlaethol sy'n bell o'r hyn sy'n digwydd yng Nghymru...heb son am wybod am Alun a Glannau Dyfrdwy.

Y math arall o wleidydd yw'r hwn sydd yn enwog am resymau gwahanol; amlygwyd hyn yn yr is-etholiad diweddar yn Oldham - yno, cawsom rybudd clir am mor hawdd bardduir enw gwleidyddiaeth; gall gwleidydd ddefnyddio anwiredd fel sail i'w gais, ynghyd a'r ffaith bod goblygiadau ar ran aelodau'r amrywiol bleidiau parthed y sgandal gwariant. Fy mwriad yw gwrthdroi hyn. Rwyf eisiau i bobl fy adnabod a dangos parodrwydd i'm herio ar faterion lleol a Chymreig.  Oni glywaf eich pryderon, yna ni allem symud ymlaen gyda'n gilydd. Mae fy e -bost yn barod i dderbyn eich sylwadau, ac edrychaf ymlaen i siarad wyneb yn wyneb ar eich trothwy!

 

Credaf bod y fraint o enwebiad ac efallai maes o law cynrychiolaeth, yn enfawr  o gyfrifoldeb arnaf i wneud yr hyn credaf sydd yn 'iawn'. Fodd bynnag, mae'n gyfrifodeb rwy'n ei groesau â breichiau agored. Rhoddaf fy ngair i chi fy mod yn gwneud hyn oll er budd Alun a Glannau Dyfrdwy, a bydd fy ymgyrch yn un gonest a gwir.  Braint yw derbyn enwebiad, ac edrychaf ymlaen i gwrdd â chi oll ac mynd i'r afael a'ch pryderon. 

 

Diolch.